


It's In His Kiss

by AweburnPhoenix



Category: The X-Files
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, F/M, First Dates, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Friends to Lovers, Post-Episode: s06e08 The Rain King, Post-Episode: s06e19 The Unnatural, UST to RST
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-20
Updated: 2020-03-20
Packaged: 2021-02-28 21:28:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,317
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23233993
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AweburnPhoenix/pseuds/AweburnPhoenix
Summary: Scully tries to have a date with an old friend when she thinks Mulder is not interested in her. I don't need to tell you how wrong she was.}» Audio version available on the Audio Fanfic Podcasthere
Relationships: Fox Mulder & Dana Scully, Fox Mulder/Dana Scully
Comments: 11
Kudos: 86
Collections: 2020 Reader Appreciation Collection





	It's In His Kiss

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Inggy1013](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Inggy1013/gifts).



> Written for my 2020 Reader Appreciation Challenge. Prompt from Inggy:  
> »»Every Saturday night after the baseball lesson, M&S start to spend their afternoons together. Mulder considers those to be dates. After a case and some missed "dates", Mulder arrives at Scully's with dinner or whatever. Once she opens the door, she's all dressed up ready for a real date with someone else... That leads to a conversation, hopefully.  
> Angst, Fluff and if you are comfortable or feel that it works Smut - UST to RST ««
> 
> This was fun to write. Thanks for the prompt and for all your lovely comments <3
> 
> Hope you like it, lady!
> 
> PS: There's (not) mention to The Fowl One :P
> 
> Endless love for ATTHS_Twice for her beta help <3

Mulder keeps staring at his bat, wondering what Scully might be doing on this Saturday evening that's more important than spending some time with him. It's been two weeks since their last  _ date _ and Mulder can't figure out why he's all alone at his apartment tonight. Scully has been avoiding him lately for some unknown reason and he doesn't want to go on like this. As difficult as it is for him, he has tried to leave her some space, not wanting to pressure her, but he's missing her deeply. 

Ever since he tricked her into that baseball class, they've been spending their Saturdays together. He hasn't had the courage to kiss her, not  _ yet _ , but otherwise they've been  _ dating _ . Or so he thinks. Going out to eat together more often than not, working more hours just to be closer, movie nights… there's even been some cuddling. Their stakeouts are nicer, too. He's found out that she loves licorice —something he can’t believe he didn’t already know. Now, he always brings some whenever they have to be confined to a car for hours. Scully's smile when he offers the red candy means the world to him. Hopefully, someday they'll entertain themselves differently but, for now, it'll have to do. 

Padgett said that she was _already in love_. Back then Mulder hadn't paid any attention to the guy's words, but little by little he has started thinking that it might be _with_ _him_. If their trip to Kroner a couple of weeks ago has taught him something is that bottling inside one's feelings is not good at all. Still, he can't get himself to tell her. What if he is wrong? It might ruin their friendship forever. 

Thus, Mulder has been on cloud nine with their "more than friends but still no benefits" situation. That was until right after that case, when she said "I'm busy this weekend" as they were parting ways on Friday. It was just one weekend, he could handle it. But yesterday, she repeated that hideous sentence again and he's been looking at his second lonely weekend in a row with no interest at all. He's not buying it. She's been acting strange and he's going to find out what's wrong. She can't possibly be mad about Sheilah's kiss. He's told Scully again and again that it was Sheila attacking him, not the other way around. 

Deciding that he needs to get to the bottom of what is going on, he drives to her apartment. Mulder knocks anxiously at her door, with a box of chocolates under his arm and a bottle of Pinot noir in the other hand. He is ready to talk and to set things right. 

Ms. Reynard's peephole creaks and Mulder can feel a pair of eyes at his back. That woman must have had enough gossip for a lifetime from spying on Scully's door alone, and yet she keeps coming back for more.  Scully is not answering so he knocks again. He could use his key, but he thinks it would be a tad bit intrusive. On his third round of knocks, Ms. Reynard coughs and Mulder starts fumbling for his keys. Before he can use them, he hears Scully's muffled yell coming from inside. 

"Just one minute, you're a bit early!" 

What on earth? Had they really agreed on meeting and he has completely misunderstood her? When he hears her heels approaching, Mulder checks his hair and smoothes his t-shirt once again. Should he have worn a nice shirt? 

As soon as the door starts opening he bursts in, needing to escape Ms. Reynard's stare as fast as he can. 

"Hey! So, I had completely forgotten the time we had agreed—." 

Turning around, noticing her attire, Mulder realizes it's not him she is expecting. 

"Mulder, what are you doing here?" 

He's never seen her looking this gorgeous, and he immediately regrets all the crappy places he's taken her. She looks amazingly beautiful in a heart-shaped red dress. It could be him walking around with her as she looks like that. But, no, of course it's not going to be him. He is a jackass and has managed to push her away somehow. 

"You look really pretty," he praises her, completely ignoring her question. 

"I, uh, thank you, Mulder." She reddens and looks around, probably trying to find an excuse to make him go. 

He's not going to make it any more uncomfortable for her, so he shows himself out. When he opens the front door, there's a blonde guy tightening his tie knot. 

"Hey, hi. Is… is Dana here?" 

The man looks confused, and checks the number on the door. It must be his first time around. That soothes Mulder, but only a little. 

"Yeah, sure," Mulder opens the door completely so he can see her. "I was just leaving."

"Hi, Parker. This is Mulder, my work partner," Scully quickly utters.

He steps away and the guy starts staring at the bottle of wine in Mulder's hand. He doesn't want to ruin this for Scully —well, he would love to, but he guesses it will not help his cause— so he tries to seem nonchalant. 

"Have fun, you guys," Mulder stutters, handing her the bottle and rushing out. "See you Monday, Scully." 

Only when he sits in his car and starts the engine does Mulder realize that the chocolates are still under his arm. Or, more precisely, what is left of them, as the box is squashed. Throwing it onto the passenger seat, he revs the engine and drives as fast as he can. He doesn't want to be there when the happy couple leaves the building. 

* * *

Scully decides then and there that she's never listening to Ellen again. Her mother had tried to make her date her neighbor's son, Parker Hardison, for a while now. Once she found out about it, Ellen set it up with her mother without even asking her about it first. 

It is her own fault, she has to be true to facts. Last Friday she was so angry at Mulder that she called Ellen. She shouldn't have. That woman can read her like an open book by now. " _ Don't worry, Dana. I'll cheer you up. Don't make plans for next Saturday _ ." 

So here she is, standing at her door, with a handsome man she's known for years, feeling stupid. It is the most awkward start of a date that she's ever had and now she can't find a way to move past it. 

"I gotta agree with your mother, Mulder seems like a nice guy." 

_ Wait, what? _ Her mother has told her date about Mulder? It keeps getting worse. He doesn't seem bothered at all, though. What might her mother have told him?

"Shall we go?" he asks, offering his arm. 

Scully starts to relax. Parker seems like the nicest man. He has been back living in her mother's neighborhood since he moved back in with his parents. Scully's  known him for years. Maybe, just maybe, she can try and have a good night with him. 

The restaurant he has chosen is lovely. The food is really tasty and the place doesn't smell greasy at all; a great improvement from her usual  _ non-date _ dinners with Mulder.  _ Stop thinking about him, Dana _ , she admonishes herself. 

Scully feels stupid every day for having completely misread Mulder's intentions. She keeps thinking of him helping with the IVF, the baseball class, their Saturday nights spent together… They seemed to be steering into a certain trail, a path that she was scared about but one she couldn't deny she wanted to plunge into. And then she saw him talking to  _ her _ . 

Mulder accepted and reciprocated  _ her _ flirting and Scully realized she was nothing special. Dating other people is not something she wants to do, but needing to move past Mulder, this seems like the only way.  _ He doesn't love you back, the guy in front of you might. So, focus _ ! 

It is difficult, though. Every conversation ends up revolving around somewhere she's been with Mulder, some funny thing he has done, something he has said. Scully realizes that getting Mulder out of her mind is going to take more than a date with a handsome nice guy. Mulder has dwelled in her mind for so long, so deep... She hasn't even noticed until now. 

It's a lovely warm summer night so, after dinner, Parker walks with her back home. He places his hand at her lower back and somehow she feels awkward. Only after a while does she realize that it is because that’s  _ Mulder's spot _ , and she wishes it was him beside her.  _ But that's not going to happen, Dana _ . 

Once they reach her building, Scully makes a bold move, she feels like she needs this. 

"Do you want to come up?" 

She gives him her best smile. Part of her hopes he says yes and maybe sex is finally going to make Mulder leave her mind. The other part of her just wants this date to end so that she can go back to her usual routine of thinking about Mulder on her own. Although it is the second thought winning right now, she doesn't want to listen to that part of her. 

"Tonight has been fun, but I don't think that is what you really want. You should call him, it's not late yet," Parker relents, moving forward and placing a soft kiss on her cheek. "Take care, Dana." He waves her goodbye. 

She should be feeling angry about being rejected like that, but instead, she is relieved. Walking back to the street she hails a taxi. Maybe Parker is right and it's not too late. 

* * *

It's been months since he last slept on his sofa, but tonight the bed is not doing it for him. He is too restless, too anxious about what Scully might be doing with the handsome blonde guy. He needs his mind to focus elsewhere. Mulder finally gets up and sits down on the sofa. Turning the TV on, he surfs the channels until he finds _that kind_ of movie that has always helped him relax in the wee hours. He lies down and hopes to fall asleep soon. 

After a while, he realizes it was not the best idea: onscreen he only sees  _ his _ Scully being kissed by someone else like  _ he _ should be doing. Turning the volume off, Mulder closes his eyes, hoping the TV whirring and the light are enough to calm his nerves. 

He has managed to doze off when he hears a banging outside. Slightly disoriented, he gets up and opens the door to find a somewhat agitated Scully. She eyes him up and down and stares for a little too long at his pant-less crotch, making him suddenly worried he might be exhibiting an erection. Looking down, he is relieved by everything appearing calm. 

"Sorry, I didn't think you'd be asleep. I'll go," she apologises, walking away, but he grabs her hand making her stay. 

"No, come in. I was just watching TV..." 

"Without any pants?" She chuckles, walking in at his insistence. 

"It's summer, Scully, and I don't have any air conditioning," he placates. "I'll put on some pants so we can talk." 

"It's okay, you don't need to. I don't wanna disturb your peace any further… Did you eat the whole box?" She suddenly asks and he is taken by surprise, not knowing what she means.

Following her hand, pointing to the almost empty box of chocolates, he can only apologize for his gluttony onslaught. 

"I couldn't let them go to waste." 

He started picking at the chocolates without even noticing and soon he had almost emptied the box. Maybe that is why he can't sleep: too much sugar and theobromine in his system. 

"Why did you bring these tonight?" She keeps inquiring. "In fact, why did you go to my place?" 

Mulder can't find an answer for her. He doesn't want to tell her the truth, he can't; not after he's seen her go out on a date with his own eyes. But, she's here now, and not with the other guy. Why? 

He's going to confront her when he realizes she's staring at the TV. There's a half-naked woman thoroughly kissing a fully naked man. Mulder is ashamed of himself and gets the remote on the couch to turn it off. 

"Sorry about th—." 

"You don't need to," she cuts him off. 

One of the million things he loves about her, she's not disgusted by his filthy habits. 

When he turns around, she's mere inches from him, staring at him with a look he has never seen. Before he has time to process it, her lips are on his, kissing him hard. He wasn't expecting this at all, but he'll be damned if he doesn't make the most of the moment. Grabbing her face he deepens the kiss. 

After a moment, both of them breaking apart, desperate for air, he stares at her, again unable to believe this has happened. 

"You… you want this?" She stammers, as though she can’t believe it has happened either. 

"Why wouldn't I want you?" He's befuddled. He's been giving her signs for years. Has he been so obscure that she hasn't got any of them? 

"But… I saw you… and her—." 

"What? Who? There's nobody else, Scully,” he stops her. "There never truly has been. And I'm sure there never will be. " 

She stares at him and he can see she still does not quite believe it. He clearly needs to make her understand, so he does the one thing he can think of in order to show her. Bending his head, he kisses her again. 

_ It's in his kiss, _ as Cher would say. Lifting her, he takes her to his bedroom to show her just how much he truly does want her. 

  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> You might remember Parker Hardison from a previous fic (https://archiveofourown.org/works/17808635). Poor guy didn't have his chance at a date with Scully back then, so I felt he was The Guy for this one.
> 
> Thanks for reading!  
> Comments are always appreciated!
> 
> If you've ever left me a comment, I'll be happy to write something for you. You just need to leave your prompt in this spreadsheet:  
> https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1wPzh33-_8mcM_hFqi1qSqA4DRcI1VMx7SOZ-Jgxyo20  
> 😊
> 
> }» Audio version available on the Audio Fanfic Podcast [here](https://soundcloud.com/audiofanficpod/xf-its-in-his-kiss-by-aweburnphoenix)


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